Page 77 of The Alpha's Protective Mate

“I need to sit down,” I mumble. My head is spinning, my face is throbbing, and a feeling of suffocation is gripping me.

Jazz guides me to one of the chairs. “I’ll get some water.”

She hurries to the fridge at the other end of the cafe, and I take the few seconds I get to try and breathe through the panic attack. My hands are no longer shaking when Jazz returns, and while my heart beat is unsteady, I’m beginning to calm down.

“Here.” She presses the cold bottle of water into my hands. “Drink it. You’ll feel better.”

I take a few gulps, the cold liquid soothing.

Jazz waits for a moment before saying, “You said it was an attempted break-in, but you lied, didn’t you? You were attacked.”

I had a story cooked up about the bruise on my forehead and the gauze on my cheek, but I find myself nodding.

Jazz’s lips tighten, and I see anger in her eyes. “Did he put his hands on you? Why didn’t you tell me? I would have told Dad to go to the cops.”

“I fought him off, and then Robert showed up. The only damage was to the door, so there was no point in calling the police.”

Jazz gives me a disbelieving look. She questions me further, but my answers are all pretty much the same, not offering a lot of information. The conclusion she comes to is a sound one.

“From now on, Dad says we’re going to have two people when we’re closing the cafe, and we’re changing the time to 7:00 p.m., except for weekends. I’ve reassigned the shifts, so either Gina or Shelby should be with you when you close up.”

I feel relieved. Human casualties are a big problem for the supernatural world because people start asking questions. Even my former clan mates wouldn’t be so foolish as to attack me with a human witness.

The rest of the day is quiet. I find myself relaxing as I get busy with work. A few of the regular customers ask me about the injury to my face, but I explain it away lightly.

Later in the afternoon, as the rush dwindles down, a group of women walks in. I’m in the middle of talking to Gina about Mano’s pregnancy when the cold energy brushes against my skin. My head whips to the side, and I see three unfamiliar faces.

From the way the women are watching me, small smirks on their faces, this is no coincidence.

“Gina,” I begin, getting ready to ask her to take care of these customers, but the oven timer sounds, and she hurries off to take out the muffins, leaving me alone with the vampires. There are still a few other customers around, so I don’t think the plan is to attack me, but they’re clearly up to something.

I paste a smile on my face. “Hello, can I get you ladies something?”

They place their orders, and then one of them says, “Bring them to our table.”

Tense, I prepare their coffees and carry them over to where they are sitting. I expect something to happen, but they say nothing, just taking the drinks from me. After a while, they pay and leave. As I go and collect their cups, I confirm that they haven’t been touched. Throughout their time at the cafe, they were watching me, not even pretending to drink.

My hands unsteady, I take the untouched coffees and dump them in the sink before placing the cups in the dishwasher.

The whole incident has me feeling on edge. They came here to watch me, and they wanted me to know it. But why?

If I thought this was a singular incident, I’m proven wrong. Over the next couple of days, the cafe becomes a popular attraction among my kind. It’s the same thing over and over again. They come, they order, and then they watch me for the good part of an hour before they leave, their drinks untouched.

“This is the third day in a row!” Jazz looks annoyed as she watches me drain the cups. “Why are people ordering coffee when they just want to waste it?!”

I’m silent.

This place that was once a haven for me is turning into a bleak form of hell. I’m growing more and more nervous and making mistakes at work. I’ve broken three cups in the past couple of days, and when these special customers show up, I find myself messing up even more. I can’t help it. I try my best not to go into the back alley by myself at any time, waiting for Robert to show up before I go to throw out the trash. He’s begun to notice that something is wrong, but I don’t want to tell him about this.

I already rely on him for a lot of things, and I don’t want to become accustomed to it.

“Charlotte, you okay?” Jazz places her hand on my forehead with no warning. “You are really pale. In fact, you haven’t been looking too good lately. If you need more time off—”

“I’m okay.” I shake my head, tightening my hands on the cloth I’m holding and glancing at a table in the corner. There are two males sitting there, smirking at me.

Jazz glances at the entrance as the door opens, and she winks at me. “Maybe you should take a break now. Your boyfriend is here.”

My face feels hot as I turn to greet Robert.

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